Most banks today provide NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) to facilitate fund transfers from one bank account to another at your convenience. However, as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations, all such transactions must be carried out within the set NEFT time schedule.
As per the revised guidelines that came into effect in December 2019, the new NEFT timings for online transactions stretch for 24 hours, seven days a week, including Saturdays, Sundays, and bank holidays. Once the branch banking hours are over, the NEFT transactions are carried out automatically using the ‘Straight Through Processing (STP)’ mode.
Earlier, the NEFT settlement time was limited to bank working days, i.e. from Monday to Friday between 8:00 AM and 6:30 PM. So, if you made a transaction on a Saturday, Sunday, or any other bank holiday, the NEFT clearance time would be 8:00 AM on the next working day.
In December 2019, however, the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular. According to this circular, the NEFT time limit was extended to 24 hours across the week. As a result, there are no NEFT holidays. You can now make a NEFT Transfer at any time of the day or night, on Saturday, Sunday, or on holidays.
FAQs about NEFT Timing
What happens if NEFT is done after 7:00 PM?
NEFT is available 24x7, on all 365 days a year. So, you can transfer funds via NEFT after 7:00 PM too. Your transfer will be processed as per the NEFT time schedule.
Can NEFT take more than 2 hours?
All the NEFT transaction requests are settled in batches once every half hour. So, NEFT rarely, if at all, takes 2 hours or more.
Can NEFT be done on Sunday?
Yes, NEFT transfer timings include Sundays and holidays as well. So, you can make your NEFT transaction on a Sunday too.
Is there a time limit on NEFT transfers?
The current online NEFT timings are 24 hours, seven days a week. As a result, you can request the transfer of money via NEFT at any time of the day without any hassle.
However, in some cases, banks may have dedicated NEFT transfer timings depending on the amount, mode, and day of transfer. You can check the NEFT money transfer time as specified by your bank and initiate the payment request accordingly.
